Employee Recognition: Why is it Important?

Owned by Matthew Rigley (Deactivated)
Last updated: Oct 26, 2021
3 min read

Written by Matthew Rigley, Talent Acquisition

Here at Trade Ledger, Employee recognition is one of our top priorities. We understand that when our team feel valued, they’re more engaged, motivated and likely to go that extra mile. Employee recognition is critical to employee, team and business success. We recognise when team members are doing an awesome job, exceeding expectations, and we’re proud of the work that they are doing. That’s exactly where employee recognition comes into play. It rewards our employees for all of their fantastic work, and as a result keeps them engaged, motivated, and even boosts their performance.  Amazing work shouldn't go unnoticed!

The importance of employee recognition

Boosts Retention: Organisations with recognition programs had 31% lower voluntary turnover than those without (Bersin by Deloitte). Praising outstanding employees can easily slip in the hustle of daily work life. However when your team are expected to keep delivering outstanding work, only to have that work go unnoticed, issues are likely to arise.

Improve productivity and performance: Organisations with sophisticated recognition programs are 12x more likely to have strong business outcomes (Bersin by Deloitte). It can be challenging for employees to rally enough enthusiasm when they feel that their achievements are constantly overlooked. Team members get by doing the bare minimum, because - whats the point in doing any more than that? Evidence shows that employees are motivated to work harder when they’re re boss shows appreciation for their work.

Company culture: Organisations with recognition programs in place experience 28.6% lower frustration levels than those without (SHRM Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey). Companies where great work consistently goes unnoticed has the potential to turn the environment toxic really quickly. Prioritising a recognition rich culture both improves the outlook of the team and in turn strengthens the company culture.

Attracts top talent: Recognition for work is one of the top drivers of candidate attraction. Culture is in the top 3 priorities when job seekers are choosing to apply for a role. Ensuring that our team members are recognised will improve our reputation in the market and will help ensure that written and word-of moth employee reviews are mostly positive.

Employee Recognition at Trade Ledger: Trade Ledger Tokens

The Trade Ledger Token scheme allows all employees on a monthly basis to nominate a peer that they feel has truly gone above and beyond in their role. These are then reviewed by our leadership team and winners are announced at our monthly company town halls. The winners can pick anything from a menu of items including dinner for 2, lunches for a week, Amazon vouchers etc.

We link all nominations for Tokens to our company values, so we can reinforce behaviours that are important to us as a business. These values are:

  1. We think big - example of great innovative ideas, process improvement, “thinking big”

  2. We make a difference - great customer feedback, adding value to Trade Ledger and the wider community

  3. We put our community first - great example of teamwork, and collaboration

  4. We bring out the best in each other - investing their time to develop others, demonstrating great leadership 

  5. We get it done - job excellence, productivity, unsung hero

Whilst recognition from management is important, peer to peer recognition also carries a lot of weight. This doesn't just happen. To establish a recognition rich culture, you need to provide the tools, resources and encouragement to help team members heap praise on one another. There are a number of tools you can install in Slack to help offer praise. Or it can be as simple as starting off every meeting with shoutouts where team members praise or thank one another for the help or major wins.

Keep an eye out for our next article which is where we will meet and celebrate some of our recent Trade Ledger token winners.

Keen to know more? Reach out to Matthew Rigley for a confidential chat on 0491170900